Lawsuit: Disabled student sexually assaulted twice in school bathroom

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, Ill. (WLS) -- A lawsuit claims a young woman with learning disabilities was sexually assaulted in a school bathroom, twice.

The family's lawyer said the alleged victim, who suffers from severe intellectual impairment, was attacked by a male student on two different occasions last summer at the Academy for Lifelong Learning in Chicago Heights.

The lawsuit claims the young woman, who was 21 at the time, was in the women's bathroom at the school on June 27, 2016, when she was sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old male student. She was allegedly assaulted in the women's bathroom by the same student nine days later.

The school had surveillance cameras, but the suit claims they were not being used properly.

"Why have a closed circuit monitoring system unless you're gonna use it? Especially when they have a camera posted depicting both bathrooms, you should be able to monitor who's coming in and who's going out," said Eugene Hollander, the alleged victim's attorney.

The lawsuit claims the male student attacked a second female student on July 6, 2016.

The suit also claims the male student faces aggravated sexual assault and aggravated sexual abuse charges in the attacks.

Homewood Flossmoor Community High School District 233, which operates the school program, said it is committed to student safety, but cannot comment on ongoing litigation. null